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Russian Olympics doping doc Icarus wins Best Documentary at Oscars

By March 4, 2018 No Comments

“After striking a chord during the Winter Olympics, Netflix’s Icarus made an impression during the Oscars. The documentary from director Bryan Fogel about Russia’s state-sanctioned doping program earned the award for Best Documentary Feature duringSunday’s Academy Awards.

Dr. Grigory Rodchenkov, the subject of Icarus, was one of the whistleblowers who came forward about Russian athletes using performance-enhancing drugs to compete in the Olympic Games. Fogel’s documentary helped shed a spotlight on the subject, and the country was subsequently banned from competing in the Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

However, Olympic officials allowed Russian athletes to participate under a neutral flag as “Olympic Athletes from Russia,” which Fogel told EW was “a slap in the face to every clean athlete in the world.”